The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN - Free Report) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 472,256 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 42,468 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned about 0.23% of Wendy's worth $7,698,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Wendy's by 670.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,402 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Wendy's in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Wendy's by 168.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,233 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Wendy's in the fourth quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Wendy's by 46.4% in the fourth quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,107 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 985 shares during the period. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WEN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of Wendy's in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Wendy's from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Wedbush reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $16.00 price objective on shares of Wendy's in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Barclays upped their target price on Wendy's from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Wendy's from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $17.97.

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Wendy's Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of WEN stock traded down $0.31 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $12.86. The company had a trading volume of 2,170,450 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,198,550. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $14.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.37. The company has a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a current ratio of 1.85. The Wendy's Company has a twelve month low of $12.05 and a twelve month high of $20.65.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $574.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $564.17 million. Wendy's had a net margin of 8.65% and a return on equity of 75.56%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Wendy's Company will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wendy's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Wendy's's dividend payout ratio is currently 105.26%.

About Wendy's

The Wendy's Co engages in operating, developing, and franchising a system of quick-service restaurants. It operates through the following segments: Wendy's U.S., Wendy's International, and Global Real Estate and Development. The Wendy's U.S. segment includes the operation and franchising of Wendy's restaurants in the U.S.